Custom home entertainment systems can include matrix switches controlled by a central control system that allow a user to select among plural sources for video contents and among plural displays on which to view content. Such arrangements can allow different family members to view different contents in different rooms and allow a viewing in progress to follow a viewer who moves from one room to another. This arrangement also allows for all of the various video sources to be hidden in a remote location, leaving only the video display visible in the living areas.
However, the transition to high-definition video has introduced some challenges to matrix switching. The predominant audio and video interconnect system for high-definition video is HDMI, which includes an optional Consumer Electronics Control (CEC) protocol that allows any HDMI connected device to issue commands to any other HDMI connected device that supports the CEC protocol. The CEC protocol assumes a single video sink, e.g., display, and cannot readily be used with a home entertainment system having the two or more video sinks. Moreover, CEC implementations tend to be manufacturer-specific, which complicates control of home entertainment systems with devices from different manufacturers. While video devices can be controlled without using CEC, e.g., using a network of IR transmitters, such approaches tend to be cumbersome, expensive, and unreliable. What is needed is a more convenient and elegant approach to selecting HDMI sources and sinks.